Takahachi — Restaurant in New York

Was on the way to meet up with a few friends down the street and had some time to kill before they would arrive, as well as a need to get some food to combat the drinking I'd be doing later on in the night.

Takahachi caught my eye from its unique recessed entrance reminiscent of the mouth of a cave, with large glass window panes. The view from inside - while facing a brick wall across the street - is still quite open.

The service was prompt and timely taking freshly finished plates as new dishes arrived.

I ordered their Age Shishito, their Tatsuta Kawari Age and their "Amazing Sushi" special.

The shishitos were quality, with only one pepper being a bit too small for my liking. That's not to say that small fry wasn't full of flavor, I just wanted more!

The Tatsuta Kawari Age was the loser of the visit. The description reads "Ginger flavor fried chicken" which sounds amazing - but that's about all it does well. On first bite, you'll be looking for that ginger taste - you'll also be doing that through the rest of the bites as it won't be found here. The frying was bland, as if they opted to go with a tempura batter and zero seasoning for the chicken. I had to squeeze the lemon provided as well as dunk other pieces into soy sauce to add a bit of anything to these chunks.

The "Amazing Sushi" special was pretty good! The award ceremony would go 1st place to the Tuna with cilantro sauce, 2nd place to the Yellowtail belly with jalapeno sauce and third to the Salmon belly with avocado and "spicy" mayo. My reasoning is personal, and you will probably have your own rating for these three pieces. I personally don't enjoy an imbalance of creamy that over powers any spice in a dish and unfortunately that's what I got with that Salmon.

Price wasn't bad for the experience and I would probably come back here for a quick bite on the way back...

Is Takahachi your drop-dead-amazing, melt in your mouth $200 Omakase in a tiny wooden room with ambient music experience? No. But it's also not Americanized franken-food sushi, or poor quality. Takakachi is that perfect in-between restaurant that is just enough "casual" and just enough "good fish," making it real neighborhood gem that is worth the walk-in wait (they don't take reservations and on weekends can get super crowded) Some tips:

-Get the cold sake in a box--it's a great deal because it's about twice the amount of sake you would get in a standard restaurant glass, at only $6-$12 depending on what variety you choose. Plus, it's cute, so that always helps. -Get the sushi dinner for 2 if you're on a date and hungry. It comes out really well presented, and you get an incredibly thoughtful, well curated selection of nigiri and a roll. -If it's busy, sit at the sushi bar; if you're lucky, the (really nice and friendly) sushi chefs will befriend you and maybe send a special something your way. -The tamago here is honestly the best I've ever had, even at top-tier sushi restaurants. -If you're vegetarian or vegan, the kabocha and miso eggplant appetizers are...

Few Japanese restaurants have an authentic Japanese feel to me these days, but Takahachi had me feeling like I had just teleported into a lowkey family run sushi place in Kyoto. 7/5 for the ambiance.

I have yet to find Sushi in East village that blows me away, so I was excited to try this place based off the ambiance alone. I STAN a good seaweed salad, but this one really missed. It was 4 different types of seaweed and you pour the dressing on yourself, idk it just really didn't do it for me. I hadn't been that let down since John Frusciante left the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2007.

However, the sushi plate for 2 truly restored my hope for Takahachi. At $59, it was a great portion size and the fish was fresh. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the fish. The only miss on the plate was the shrimp nigiri, but I don't understand how people actually like shrimp nigiri. I just firmly believe it doesn't belong with pieces of QUALITY nigiri.

Anyways, I WILL be back. My new goto...